#1 (permalink) Sun Jul 26, 2009 20:07 pm The Cabbie. The conclusion. |
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The house, if anything, was even more grand than I remembered. The cab pulled up before the door, and I told the driver that I would check to see if my friend was at home.
The bell was answered by a butler, and in reply to my enquiry he informed me that Rebecca "no longer resided" there. He did however offer to give me the address that they were forwarding her mail to.
After thanking him I walked by to the taxi and gave the driver the new address. We sped into Newcastle, not to the grander part, but to a more modest area. I paid the driver and approached the modest looking house. Maybe the butler had made a mistake .... but no, the name on the bell was hers.
I took a deep breath and pressed the bell in two short bursts. The hall lights came on, and Rebecca opened the door wide. She was still as beautiful as ever, but a little older. Ten years is a long time between meetings.
Her face creased into a huge smile and she greeted me so warmly. "Frankie, how are you and what are you doing here?" Her words came out in a breathless rush. She invited me in and led me to a modestly-furnished sitting-room.
We sat on the sofa and I waved away the drink that she offered. "Oh Frankie, she sighed. " I've heard you so often on the radio, and read about you in the press. You are doing so very well." "Yeah, I'm really flying high nowadays," I replied, and the irony of what I has said had us both laughing hysterically. After we calmed down again I asked what had happened with her acting career.
"That wasn't really me Frankie. I realised that there were more important things in life than entertaining the upper classes."
Again we both laughed, and I suddenly realised that Rebecca had both feet firmly on the ground again. She was smiling like a schoolgirl, and I hoped that it was me that was the reason, and not the wine she was drinking. Well, we talked and talked about the good old days and the bad old days until it was very late.
She suddenly went quiet and gave me a soft kiss. "You know Frankie, I've always regretted our not having made love. Will you stay the night?" .............. What a question!
We spent a wonderful three days together, and when it was my time to leave she stubbornly refused the money that I wanted to give her. She was down on her luck, but her smile told me that she had finally found herself again.
I climbed into the waiting taxi, and the last I saw of Rebecca was her smiling face as she waved me goodbye.
"You see, she was going to be an actress, and I was going to learn to fly. She took off to find the footlights, and I took off to find the sky."
Kitos.
The Cabbie. Part one. _________________ If you need me, I'm here. |
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Kitosdad I'm a Communicator ;-)

Joined: 04 Mar 2009 Posts: 3939 Location: ESSEN, Germany, (but English.)
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